The Colours of Life
by Achachak
Summary: The story of a girl as she enters university life, and how it changes her.
1. The School

**The Colours of Life**

Chapter 1 – School

_Blue and yellow make green..._

The dyes mixed to form a light green...

_Red and yellow make orange..._

A bright orangey colour emerged from the mix...

_Blue and red make magenta..._

The colours blended seamlessly together...

Early morning was the best time. All the colours of the day were soft and new. Not fully awake yet, their shades were watery and overpowered by the warm yellow of the morning sun.

A girl sat unmoving by a large window. She too was bathed in the rays of the bright sun. The sunbeams bounced off of her silvery hair giving her an almost angelic glow. Her deep blue eyes gazed out the window, focussed on capturing the morning hues on the canvas.

Her paintbrush dipped into the cup of clear water which immediately turned murky. The brushed rested in the water and as she slowly rose from the stool to admire the canvas. She glanced at the clock on the night-table.

_Oh...twenty to seven..._ She thought to herself. She reached for a folded paper which rested next to the clock and opened it:

MEALTIMES

Breakfast: 7: 00 – 7:30 a.m.

Lunch: N/A

Dinner: 5: 30 – 6: 00 p.m.

The canvas would have to wait another day. She had to get ready for school and breakfast was being served soon. It wasn't polite to show up late. She wanted to make a good impression.

Aurora Charnock was her name. She was nineteen years old and was beginning her first year in university. Her father had made sure she worked hard in her high school years, so she could attend a prestigious university. She had been successful and gotten accepted to a prominent university as a medical student no less. Her father was proud. Her mother would have been as well, had she still been alive.

It had been her mother's dream for her to attend Driscol University for medicine. It was an esteemed university known for its high calibre students and rigorous curriculum. There were many faculties and schools. The university was in an old English town – Driscol – that had scenery like that of a fairytale. Everything was beautiful and green. She couldn't have asked for more. Accept she did, but there was no time to dwell on that now. She had places to go and impressions to make.

Twenty minutes later, she left her room dressed and ready for the lectures ahead. As she left her room she admired the line of mahogany doors that greeted her. She was living in an old-style house with five other girls. She was lucky as every bedroom had an en-suite bathroom. The house was nice but pricey. Luckily her father had taken care of all the expenses. He was a man of great power and wealth after all. She sighed.

He had wanted her to live alone with a maid, but she had refused. She didn't want to be lonely. Still, he had stressed that she should not get distracted by little things such as "making friends." He had warned her to stay away from the other girls. They would lead her astray he had said.

It had been her first night since being accepted into the boarding house. The landlady had personally interviewed all the tenants and made sure they were all responsible girls. She hadn't met any of them yet but she planned to take her father's advice. Be the best she could be. No, she was definitely not here to make friends.

At that moment, she heard the door to the right of her open.

"Oh, good morning." A girl stepped out into the hallway. Dark brown ringlets framed her smiling face. Her chocolate brown eyes matched her skin tone perfectly. "I'm Safirah. I'm studying music. What about you?"

Aurora looked at the girl and softly answered, "I'm Aurora and I'm studying medicine. Sorry, I have to go now. Don't want to be late on the first day." Aurora flashed Safirah a smile and before the other girl could say anything else, she quickly descended down the stairs towards the dining room.

There was no one in the dining room except a maid who was setting the table and serving up breakfast. There were lots of things to eat but Aurora settled on some slices of fruit and tea. She wanted to leave before any of the other girls came down. She wanted to avoid unnecessary conversations.

Five minutes later Aurora was out the door and off to her first class: anatomy.

She found the lecture theatre all right and quietly sat down near the front ready for the lecture. She had come prepared, having read the reading that accompanied the lecture. Soon the hall began to fill up with people. Aurora was unsure if the students in university acted different from the students in high school.

_Would there be cliques? _She wondered. Cliques were annoying. She had observed many of them in her high school years and had yet to determine their purpose. All they were was groups of girls and boys sticking together in packs to hide their own insecurities. She sniffed.

_Useless._

Vaguely she registered someone sitting next to her just as the lights dimmed and the professor entered. The projector hummed to live as the professor gathered himself to start the lecture.

_Well, _thought Aurora, _here we go._

Author's Note

How'd you like it? Please review.

Thanks :)


	2. The First Day

**The Colours of Life**

Chapter 2 – The First Day

"...and that about wraps up all of the main muscles that we will be taking a closer look at in the practical on Wednesday. Thanks for your attention." The professor powered down his laptop as the hall filled with the buzz of the students. Slowly, everyone filed out. Aurora lagged behind. She was surprised at how fast the three hour lecture had passed for her. The content was surprisingly interesting.

She thumbed through the anatomy text book and looked once more at the diagrams of the muscles the professor had been explaining in the lecture when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

_I thought everyone had left. _She turned and was greeted with a young man with sandy hair and sea-green eyes.

"Hi, are you new here?" He laughed, embarrassed, "Sorry, I just haven't seen you here before and since this is the second year of med school, you basically get to know your class really well. I'm Gabriel Dalry just so you know. Anyways, how'd you get into the second year of this program if you're a first year?" He paused, anticipating her answer, and when it didn't come, quickly moved on,

"Well, whatever, I was wondering if you maybe wanted a tour? This year can get pretty challenging so I thought you might want some pointers. I'm second year med rep so it's my job, and no trouble." He smiled at her, awaiting her reply.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I've got it covered. Bye." She replied and turned away to leave. The boy continued to smile even though she'd left him behind. He was clearly dazed of having being so quickly turned down.

_Ugh! Not again! _ She thought. _Another stupid dare. Class rep, that's a new one. But I guess they get better with age._ This sort of thing had happened all too often in previous years. Boys would dare one another to approach her – the lone girl – and try to make friends with her. She was naive back then and was happy to have someone to talk to. They'd be so nice to her for the whole day and then the next day she'd wave hello only to be completely ignored. The whole day her new "friend" would just sit with other members of the class and laugh at her. They'd call her names: the girl with no friends, the weird genius girl, the teacher's pet, the smart aleck, the girl who knew the answer before the question was even asked. Teachers would say she was gifted, but she thought it was a curse. It set her apart in so many ways. What was wrong with being smart?

Her father said that they were just jealous and it was better to have no friends then to have jealous ones. Her grandmother, however, was more understanding. She'd given Aurora her first easel, canvas, and paints saying that anytime Aurora felt alone or angry or anything bad, she should paint it out. _Use the colours to express your emotions. Capture the energies and lock them onto the canvas. _She'd said.

Ever since that day she'd followed her grandmother's advice. She'd always carried small kit of paints and brushes and a canvas around with her, just in case. She had painted dozens of paintings and really learned how match colours with feelings. There was a good two hours before her next lecture.

_Enough time to paint away the anger and hurt. _ She thought. The weather was nice and bright and the September sun was surprisingly warm. She found a shady spot until a tree and set up shop. The quad was bright and green, enclosed by beautiful old English architecture. She felt her feelings and reached for the brush. She began to paint.

The world melted away. She was flying high in the sky; a sea of colour spanned out below her. Any colour she envisioned became real on the canvas: bright orange, vibrant red, brilliant yellow, deep blue, earthy green. She felt powerful: the mistress of colour. She commanded a symphony of colour with her paintbrush. Trumpets sounded. Drums thundered. Cymbals clashed. Flutes played. Violins hummed. She was riding a roller-coaster. The track dove, twisted, turned and looped. She was caught up in the thrill. Anything she desired would be hers. She was on a high. A wonderful feeling of freedom engulfed her. There were no walls or fences to enclose her. This world was all hers. She felt herself smile.

"Excuse me." The words were distant but their effect profound. A crack appeared in the sea of colour. A vortex formed. All the colours were being sucked into it. Everything was fading. She watched the sea disappear until not a speck of colour was left, except green: the green of the quad and yellow appeared as well. The quad became visible to her again. She felt herself come out of the trance. Her canvas stood in front of her. Upon it was the silhouette of a man or was it a boy? A dazzling sunrise of yellows, pinks, reds, whites and oranges spread out behind him. But there were black crows with beady red eyes surrounding him. His hand was extended as if inviting the reader into the painting. It was so lifelike. It startled even Aurora. But the man/boy had no eyes.

"Ahem." The voice made itself known again. She turned in the direction where the voice had originated and found herself looking into familiar sea-green. _Sea-green eyes!_

Her brush dipped into several colours, deftly mixing them. She lifted the brush to canvas and gave the silhouette the exact shade of sea-green eyes she'd looked into only moments before.

"Wow." Aurora turned to the boy, who stood transfixed, staring at her canvas. She felt a streak of pride flash through her as she looked at the boy's awe-filled face. He began shaking his head in wonder.

"I was on my way to the next lecture and I saw you here sitting here stone still, staring at that canvas. I wanted to tell you that the next lecture was in about ten minutes. Ah, uh, that was ten minutes ago," he paused, flustered, "I mean I figured you probably already knew and didn't want me telling you again, but suddenly you began to move really quickly. You were painting, but you just looked so into it. When I came up to you, you didn't even notice me. You just kept painting until I-I disturbed you. Sorry." He was talking a mile a minute and sounded like a little boy who felt as if he had trod on something sacred.

"I just never figured you the type to paint. I mean I know that's not fair. I just met you and, yeah..." he trailed off.

_He couldn't possibly be...nervous could he?_ Aurora looked at him wondering. He seemed confused. He was just babbling mindlessly trying to fill the silence. She didn't mean to be quiet but she wasn't sure of what to say. So she just kept her gaze on him, listening to his chatter. After a while she finally spoke,

"I learned to paint when I was younger. I never took lessons or anything. It's just a hobby of mine. It's really relaxing." She surprised herself. She was actually being nice to someone and he seemed very relieved to hear her talk. He visibly relaxed. She could actually see a burden lift off of his shoulders and he sighed deeply,

"Yeah, wow. I mean I paint too, but you just totally showed me up. You must be a child prodigy or something. Here let me show you my painting style. You're in luck 'cause I was planning to paint today after lecture, but I guess during the lecture is okay, too." He sat beside her and set up his canvas and paints. They sat for a long while comparing painting styles.

"Gabe!! HEY GABRIEL!" Gabriel looked up amidst his painting. Three boys were running toward the two sitting under the tree. Gabriel waved at them and Aurora felt her body tighten. Was this the part where they laughed at her?

She began to put her canvas and paints away. The afternoon had been fun, but she had missed an importance lecture as a consequence and that was just not acceptable. Her father would – Aurora stopped dead. Her father!! What time was it? She looked at her wristwatch and blanched. It was six-thirty! Not only had she missed dinner at her boarding house, but if she didn't hurry she'd miss her father's call as well.

_Not good! _ Aurora shuddered. The last time she'd missed a call. She closed her mind. Now was not the time to think of such things. Now was the time for action. She looked up. Gabriel's friends had just arrived and Gabriel was talking with them. She smiled. He wouldn't be able to embarrass her if she made a quick exit.

Quietly she packed up her things and disappeared.

"Yeah! I know! I missed a lecture and it was all because of this girl." Gabriel gestured to where Aurora had just been sitting except she wasn't there.

"We tried to tell you Gabe, but you were too obsessed with telling us you missed a lecture. That girl just left. She looked like she was late for something."

Gabriel's smile faltered. She hadn't even introduced herself. Why would she just leave suddenly? His friends caught on to his thinking and supplied a grim but possible answer.

"Maybe she was late for a date with someone. A _guy _perhaps?" Gabriel's smile all but disappeared. He thought to himself crossly. He'd just met her for god's sakes!

"Aw, Gabe's mad. C'mon, let's go get something to eat. It's almost past suppertime!" Gabriel allowed himself to be dragged off.

Aurora arrived in her room and the telephone was already ringing. She made threw herself at it and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Aurora!" a powerful man's voice boomed, "You know I don't like to wait. What took you?"

"Sorry father I was in the bathroom."

"I called earlier. Where were you then? If I am correct your lectures finished at four? Or did you lie to me?" There was a distinct mean edge in his voice.

"No," she paused, _What am I going to say?! _"I-I was taking a shower." There was a long, almost unbearable silence,

"Oh really? That's not what Tony saw." Aurora felt the colour drain from her face. Who was Tony? Why was he watching her? Oh god, how much did he know? Thoughts raced through her mind quickly.

"Aurora Amélie Charnock, we need to talk. Tomorrow at six. I shall expect you at the Café Du Chat Noir. Wear something presentable. That is all."

Click. The line went dead.

"Oh god, what am I going to do?" Aurora sank to her knees. All she could do was hope for the best.

_It's times like these I wish you were still with me mother. _Aurora glanced at the photo on her night table. A woman with long flowing silvery hair and grey eyes smiled back at her: her mother.

"Please help me mother."

Author's Note

Please review

Thanks :)


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